Chapter Twenty-Six

Escape

v

When I stepped out of the shower a few minutes later, I found Kakarot lounging against the wall near the sink, his arms crossed over his chest as he watched me with a smirk on his face. He looked the very picture of temptation with his tanned, muscled skin and his ruffled, messy, bed-head hair. Sometimes, I forgot he was a murderer for a living because he looked so damned handsome. He sure as hell didn't act like one though; at least, not around me.

"I take it Vegeta's gone?"

I took the towel he held out to me and squeezed some excess moisture out of my hair, my blue eyes watching as Kakarot idly picked up various things in the bathroom to study them.

"Yep; he left me with a dire warning not to touch you unless he was here…"

Kakarot's smirk widened as he leaned in closer to me, reaching out a finger and poking me softly on a shoulder.

"Touch…"

He said softly, quirkily.

"Rebel…"

I mocked him gently as I finished drying my skin and began to apply some makeup. While I prettied myself up and dried my hair more, Kakarot had a quick shower and by the time he was done, I was dressed in a nice black skirt and white blouse that prominently showed off the tops of my breasts and was putting on some leather ankle boots. Kakarot dried himself off and emerged from the bathroom, boxers back on and carrying his jeans over his arm. He grinned at me, winking as he began putting them on. I smiled back.

The great pleasure the two were bringing to me was so out of this world and immense I just couldn't even believe what was real anymore.

v

Another few days passed and another few days of incredible sex and foreplay passed by; I never wanted it to end. Kakarot exited the bathroom as usual, carrying his jeans over his arm, grinning at me. I sat on the edge of the bed, getting redressed. He put his jeans on and then came around the bed and kissed me gently. It was just the same as any other day… or… so we thought.

We suddenly heard loud stomping from outside the bedroom door and then it swung open loudly. Vegeta stepped abruptly back in the room, startling both I and Kakarot.

"Ve-Vegeta, what's wro…"

"Kakarot, leave… now."

We were both nervous and shocked at his brute behavior and stern attitude that seemed to have come out of nowhere. Vegeta's eyes panned up from the floor to Kakarot's eyes.

"NOW…!"

We both flinch and Kakarot looked at me, half dressed, still shirtless, started walking towards Vegeta in the doorway. His eyes filled with fury, anger; not towards him, but… more towards himself it seemed. Kakarot had known Vegeta for years now, and he's only ever seen that look maybe two other times. He looked like he was having a midlife crisis. Kakarot slipped past not saying a word and the door slammed shut behind him. For a moment, he stayed near it, listening, but didn't hear anything for about a solid minute, so left, and headed for the storage room for another shirt.

Vegeta immediately walked up to me after detecting that Kakarot's energy was gone and before I could even say another word, he punched me square across the face and I was out.

v

Blackness and throbbing pain in my face rolled over me as I slowly came to. When I opened my eyes, I was back in the dungeon, on the cold floor, in the center of the room.

Wait… no, what… what was happening?! Why's Vegeta doing this?

He stepped out of the shadows with a whip in his hand. His face glistened under his eyes and on his cheeks; his eyes red and bloodshot… He… He was crying. Why? His breathing was raged as his fist tightened around the whip handle. He stared down at me unsure.

"Ve-Vegeta… what's going on? What… What are you going to do?!"

I kept my voice quiet and as calm as I could. He didn't answer. He only stared.

"Vegeta… you're scaring me… please…"

His eyes flared more and he gritted his teeth tightly.

"Vegeta, please, answer me!"

"That's Prince Vegeta to you!"

The whip cracked down over me on the floor, cutting my side. I screamed for a moment in pain. Blood slowly trickled from my side as Vegeta slowly took a step forward.

"Wh-Why… Why are you doing th-this?!"

He stared darkly down at me.

"…because I need to… because I can't take this anymore… the generous sharing; pleasing, all-about-you bullshit is stopping… NOW! Everything with Kakarot is done! I don't care what happens. You're MY fucking property, NOT HIS! You're mine, and I'll damn well use you and do what I fucking please to you! I don't care if I'm jealous! I don't care what happens! You'll never get away from me! I won't let you leave! You'll never leave me! You're mine, my slave, MY MATE!"

He took another step forward, right next to me and kneeled down. He clenched a fist full of my hair in his hand. I gasped at his grasp and squeaked loudly, trying hard to ignore the pain.

"Listen to me… Kakarot's little fun with you… is all done now… It's back to the way it used to be, the way I want it to be. For what I enjoyed with Kakarot will stay past memories… 'Enjoyable' memories…"

He paused, taking in a deep breath.

"You'll not leave this room until I say you can. I'm…"

He swallowed hard before continuing, loosening his grip slightly,

"I'm doing this because… I… I… care about you…"

I froze in his grasp, holding my breath. What…? Was he saying he loved me?!

FUCK YOU! I thought you changed, Vegeta… I guess you didn't. I guess I was wrong about you… I hate you! I HATE YOU!

I glared at him. He froze and almost flinched, as if he had reacted to what I was thinking.

Wait, oh, shit! I totally forgot he can do that! How can I forget something like that?! Fuck, no!

He forced a grin angrily. He tugged at my hair and then threw me against the hard, cold ground. I could taste blood in my mouth. I whimpered as I slowly tried moving to my hands and knees. He stood straight back up, stroking a hand through his thick hair, and then glaring back down at me. He gripped the handle to the whip harder to the point I thought it would snap.

"Do you understand me…?"

The tears again; it had been days since I last cried.

Why… everything was so perfect… No, Kakarot, stop him! Please…

"I asked you a question, SLAVE!"

The whip cracked down loud and fast. I screamed and screamed as it cracked through the air again and again.

v

Everything was a blur, day by day, the King asked Vegeta about me and he, of course, lied; saying that I was fine. Kakarot avoided Vegeta as much as possible, and I wasn't even sure if Nathan was even still alive!

v

How much time has passed? Why did he do this? He hurt me, again and again… Kakarot… help me…

v

I walked back up the stairs again, slowly, finally, round and round the narrow stairwell once again, bringing back all the horrible, old memories. The dark swelling skin and fresh blood blinded my eyes. Vegeta had beaten me to a pulp… again. At one point, he was actually worried that he almost killed me. He gave me a solution of purple and greenish liquid that begun to quickly heal me just so he could beat me down again. He left me lying on the floor, bleeding and sobbing again, then soon kicked me out and told me to wait upstairs in the room. All the old memories were returning again. Tears trailed down my face as I stumbled up the stairs to the door.

I opened it to collide with a massive body. Strong hands grabbed me gently around my waist and under my arms, lifting me up. Still crying, I didn't bother to even see who it was. I was lifted up gently into the strong arms of a man who carried me across the hallway into Vegeta's bedroom. I was carried across the room to the bed and gently placed down. I forced my weak eyes open to slowly make out the image of a man with wild black hair and a worrisome, depressed look on their face, a man I hadn't seen in weeks; Kakarot.

"Lady Taylor… can you hear me?"

His voice was practically a whisper. Probably to stay quiet and not draw any unwanted attention from anyone passing through the hallway. He quickly got up and ran to the door, locking it… LOCKING IT?! THIS IS VEGETA'S ROOM!

No, NO! NOT AGAIN, PLEASE!

I was too weak to even move. I wouldn't be able to protest. He came back just as quickly as he left and sat on the side of the bed, gently holding my hands in his. He was warm… I was so, so cold from being in that room for so long. He… He wasn't going to do anything. Vegeta wasn't here to boss him around. I had to have been in the dungeon for at least six weeks… six weeks of this crap. Even with having my period while I was down there, that didn't stop him, if anything, it made things worse. He was furious and punished me for everyday that I bled. What a monster, I thought every day and every night. Tears continued to stream down my cheeks.

He leaned forward, closer to my face.

"Lady Ta… uhh… T-Taylor… please, answer me…!"

"Y-Ye-Yes…"

He smiled slightly in relief, but quickly went back to worrying deeply for me.

"Oh, thank goodness! That fucking bastard! I heard everything from upstairs; I was so afraid and angry! I wanted to come down there and just grab you and take you away… I knew he was going to send you up alone, though, so I just waited… it's what he's done with you every time so far… and every other woman in the past…"

He trailed off. I ignored what he had said and just sighed heavily, almost whimpering in pain.

"Ka-Kakarot… please… just stay here… with me."

He went silent for a moment and then smiled.

"Just wait…"

He let go of my hands and left my side to go to the bathroom. He grabbed a cloth and dampened it with cold water and grabbed a First Aid-like kit from under the sink. He brought it all back to the bed. He began bandaging up the wounds around my head, arms and legs. He then slowly rolled me over to gently dab the cold cloth against the deep scaring cuts through my back. I winced and squeaked in pain. He apologized several times, and I knew he meant it.

My… friend… I'm so glad to have you back.

He continued to bandage my back and then roll me over again. It was then when I was finally beginning to come back into full reality to realize that I was still naked. I immediately blushed hard; my whole face going red. Though Kakarot had already seen me naked, several times now, I still blushed around him for some reason. Kakarot looked down at me confused until he too realized the reason I was embarrassed. He smiled and grabbed the sheet at the foot of the bed, pulling it up over me. He was finally done bandaging me up and cleaning my wounds. I grinned slightly, shyly, and said,

"Th-Thank you, Kakarot…"

He smiled at me, gently raising one of my hands to his lips, tenderly kissing it.

"You're welcome, Taylor."

I blushed more and shyly looked away. He grinned,

"You look so beautiful…"

He looked down at my relaxed hand in his.

"Even when I look like this… You still think that?"

"Of course… Of course I do."

It had been so long since I'd seen his face, his smile. Even with my blood smeared all over his clothes and body, he still looked even more handsome and God-like than ever before. He was glowing in my eyes. His loved everything about him. I smiled up at his gleaming, happy face. His smiled slowly began to turn flat, like he was thinking. I looked curiously at him; to my surprise, I was already beginning to feel better, just being in his presence. It was strange. He looked into my eyes with a very nervous, serious look in his eye.

"I need to get you out of here!"

My eyes widened.

"Wh-What?!"

He never answered; he just grabbed me into his strong arms again with the sheet from the bed wrapped around my being and ran to the window of the Prince's bedroom.

"Hey, K-Kakarot… w-wait… wait!"

I gasped at the height from the window to the ground. I wrapped my arms around his neck, burrowing my face into his shoulder. Blood smeared over his neck and shoulder, but he didn't care. He just wanted to get me as far away as possible.

"Don't look down… You're going to be alright… I promise!"

Then, with that being said, his feet jumped from the windows edge and we were flying through the air, down into the heart of the city.

v

When I finally opened my eyes, we were down in the middle of a busy, crowded street, full of Saiyan men, women, children, all of lower class. Why were we here? The area looked very old and crummy; kind of like the 'hood' of when I was back on Earth. He held me tight to his body as he grabbed a key out of his pants pocket. He unlocked a door to a small house and walked inside, closing the door as soon as we were in. he carried me to a small loveseat and set me down.

"I'll go find you some clothes."

"Wait!"

I reached out, grabbing his wrist with one hand and holding the sheet up to protect my body with the other.

"Where are we? What is this place?"

He chuckled, gently tugging his wrist from my grasp,

"What do you mean 'where are we'? This is my house. This is where I live…"

He turned and walked into a bedroom. I looked around my surroundings at the small house. It was a little rundown, but not dirty. I grinned, tears beginning to form again.

I'm finally away from him; Vegeta!

I glanced over and saw Kakarot with his back to the living room in his room taking his shirt off, changing out of his dirty clothes. It made me blush as if I had never seen him undress before. Kakarot soon returned with a t-shirt and sweat pants in his hands.

"I'm sorry if it's not what you're 'used' to wearing, but… this is all I've really got other than casual and formal stuff for me…"

"It's okay… It's perfect…"

He smiled greatly at my comment and handed them to me. He then turned around, waiting patiently.

"You've already seen me naked… multiple times; I don't think turning away will change anything."

He chuckled and crossed his arms.

"Unlike Prince Vegeta, I do respect you, and… I want you to be able to completely trust me… before we do anything else. I care about you, a lot…"

I blushed slightly and looked at the window. The curtain was pulled closed, so I stood up, letting the sheet fall from my body and began to put the shirt and pants on. The t-shirt was pretty much a dress on me, but I put the sweats on too anyways. Once it was all on, I slowly approached Kakarot; he still had his back turned. I was probably about a foot away from him before he asked,

"Are you done now?"

I wrapped my arms around him, hugging him from behind. He flinched when I touched him, but relaxed almost immediately. He placed his large hands on mine, gently squeezing them. I didn't want to let him go. For the first time in a really long time, I felt safe again. He made me think of Nathan; his smile, his warmth, his gently heart and touch.

"Yes…"

I grinned as I slowly began to let go. He turned to face me; he began to reach out to hold my waist, biting the corner of his lower lip nervously, until he hesitated and pulled back. He quickly walked into the kitchen.

"I know a recipe for a remedy to heal your wounds quickly. That way, neither of us will have to leave the house to get anything…"

I slowly and weakly approached the kitchen and sat in a chair at the small table. He began to pull out all different herbs and items from cupboards and drawers. He was moving quickly while I sat and watched.

After about ten minutes of him grinding and mixing, he brought a small bowl with a watered down red solution with small bits of herbs and spices floating in it. I trusted him. He wasn't going to poison me like… him. I drank it quickly. It tasted like an off raspberry-lemon mix. I scrunched my face a little at the bitter, sour taste before relaxing to the after-taste, which was a lingering sweet, sugary taste. Kakarot chuckled at my reaction to the taste, smiling at me being in his presence. I was beginning to feel a little sleepy, but I didn't pass out, I just felt really tired all of a sudden.

"You may begin to feel a bit drowsy, but that's completely normal."

He took my arm and pulled me to my feet, lifting me into his strong arms once again and carried me back over to the loveseat in the living room. He laid me down and put the sheet over me. He was about to walk away, but stopped and turned back. He grabbed the sheet back off of me and took it into the bedroom. I shivered, sleepily, wondering why he took the sheet away. He returned from the room with a different, thicker blanket. He put it over me and kissed my temple, whispering,

"I'm so glad you're safe, now."

I smiled and then closed my eyes, having the first decent sleep in what had felt like forever. The blanket was warm, it felt so good, and it smelt so nice; it smelt like him, his clothes, the room; they all smelt like him… Kakarot. It made me grin to myself as I began to drift off into the first peaceful dream I've had in a long while; his eyes, his touch, his warmth, his heartbeat, his body… his love… was all I dreamt of. It was the best dream I had had in what felt like years.